A Change of Pace

As we rapidly approach the beginning of another work/school week, I find myself at a precipice myself. I’ve shared with so many people my love of stories, my deep desire to see women live in a world of gender equality and safety. I have blogged almost exclusively these past few months for women’s rights and issues, made a YouTube video, I even decided that this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.

And yet, it hadn’t occurred to me in the beginning that I could do all of that now. I mean, yes, the blogging and the stories and the equality are things I strive for every day, but the thing is, it’s something I assumed that I would need multiple degrees and things to do. Turns out, I was just holding myself back.

I woke up today wondering how I might spend my Sunday. I’ve had a growing hankering to create. Something, anything. I just wanted to really connect with my artistic side, live the changes that I wanted to see, you know? But I couldn’t narrow it down. I spent all day Saturday doing homework and more homework sounded appalling. Did I want to write? Eh. Did I want to sculpt? Eh. Draw? Maybe. And that’s when I laughed. It’s been staring me in the face for ages.

And so, this morning, I Love Me was born. I’ve gotten some wonderful feedback, some really positive and reaffirming stuff, as well as constructive criticisms. And through the fire, we manage to find ourselves looking at a great idea in the making.

I Love Me is a children’s picture book designed to teach body positivity and safety to girls ages 7-12. In this book, there are mentions of loving yourself, how to determine if something is appropriate, and what to do if something does happen that’s inappropriate, as well as being in charge of your own body.

So I knew I started this yesterday, and as you can see I didn’t quite finish it. I was busy reworking the actual “story” part of this project. It now includes a little more and I changed some things around. I absolutely love it more. You see, I’ve talked to mothers and professors and psychology degrees and social workers and we all seem to have reached the same consensus: children need to know more about how to protect themselves from dangerous situations, but also how to love themselves. It’s going to take a while for the illustrations, but I cannot wait to share this journey with you all!